Music videos shot in and around Nashville regularly end up as three-minute pieces on cable television networks CMT and GAC and other media outlets. But the steps it takes to get there take much longer than the video’s average run time.

From start to finish, country music videos take about a month to produce. As Country Music Television prepares for Wednesday, June 9's ninth annual CMT Music Awards, here’s a look at the work that goes into making the mini-movies — media tools used to introduce music fans to new artists and new songs as well as to remind them why they love perennial favorites like Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

Step 1: Choose a song

This falls in the lap of the record label, and representatives from both independent label Big Machine Records and corporate giant Sony Music Nashville agree that most singles destined for country radio won’t escape without some kind of video treatment.
Sandi Spika Borchetta, vice president of creative at Big Machine Records and The Valory Music Co., said that when staff meetings are held to choose an artist’s next single, the topic of a music video inevitably surfaces.

“A huge part of the conversation is, ‘How cool could that video be?’ ” she said. “(We ask ourselves) ‘Could it drive the single and impact the audience and help (the song) out at radio?’ We do feel they have an impact and make a difference.”

Step 2: Find a director

The video director is the key to the whole process.

“(A director’s) job is to take a song and put visuals to it and paint a picture showing what the artist was seeing in their head,” explained Scott McDaniel, vice president, creative at Sony Music Nashville. “I think of directors as visual songwriters.”

Record labels usually begin the process of selecting a director by gathering in-depth proposals from their candidates.

Veteran video director George Flanigen of Deaton Flanigen Productions described the proposals as a director’s “time to shine” and said that formulating them is often the hardest part of the entire shoot. To write these elaborate outlines, he and his partner Robert Deaton consider the preset parameters such as budget (usually between $70,000 and $90,000), timing and location. They listen to the song for about a week and then spend one day writing the miniature storyline to return to the record label.

Borchetta said that record labels sometime have a good idea of who they want to direct the video even before that step. She pointed to Trey Fanjoy’s work with superstar Taylor Swift as an example.

“Trey Fanjoy was so perfect for the first Taylor Swift videos because Taylor wanted to have this beautiful, romantic girly look to her videos,” Borchetta said. “She was very much into the girl stuff and hair and makeup and pretty dresses. (Trey) got into that mode and she helped make those videos as colorful and luscious as possible.”

Step 3: Pre-production

Next, the production company starts work. The freshly appointed director must find a shoot location; hire a casting director; enlist hair, wardrobe and makeup professionals; and hire a set designer, photographer and editor. He or she also has to line up the tech crew. In total, up to 50 people — or more if there are a lot of extras — can have a hand in the process.

“It’s all on our backs to do it, get it, set the time and set the schedule and get everybody together and get this planned and pick a day or two to shoot it,” said Flanigen, whose production company has a CMT Music Award nomination for director of the year.

The right location, Flanigen said, is crucial. In addition to it setting the visual tone, location can also be the biggest budget buster.

“Get it on the road and you will spend anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 more,” he said. “Only travel if you have to travel for scheduling and location. If the song talks about being on a beach, then we’re traveling. We’re buying the beach. But if you can find the same farm or apartment here that you can in Chicago, then do it.”

He said Brooks & Dunn’s video for “Believe” was a prime example of the importance of finding the right location close to home. To make it work, Flanigen needed a big sky, an old clapboard house for Mr. Wrigley (one of the song’s central characters), an old cemetery, an open field and a place for Brooks & Dunn to perform. And the production company needed it all to be close together. They found it, thanks to Flanigen’s location scout, in Adams, Tenn.

“To put all (our gear) back in the trucks and move it even a mile down the road is a long move,” Flanigen said of why all the elements had to be in close proximity. “A good location scout knows his areas and you pay those people because of their knowledge.”

The casting director then puts out a casting call and once the actors are chosen, Flanigen said conversations start about wardrobe, taking into account what is appropriate for the time period in which the video is set. If there are cars or animals involved, specialty wranglers are hired. The wranglers take pictures of their product — wheeled or furred — and email the director pictures.

A similar scenario is true for the art department person. That job could, for example, mean making an abandoned area or a space that isn’t a home look lived in.

“They go out and see the location and then come back with pictures of couches and chairs and front porch equipment,” Flanigen said. “You have to see (it all). You don’t have time on a shoot day for surprises. That’s what preproduction is for, all these little meetings.”

An additional visit to the location ties up the plan for shoot day. Flanigen said the goal is to have a complete schedule for each shot.

Step 4: Shoot day

McDaniels said shoot day is “like paint by numbers” by the time it arrives because so much time and cooperation is devoted to advance plans.

Montgomery Gentry’s shoot in Watertown seemed to be the perfect example. The men traipsed up and down about 20 yards of sidewalk in front of homey-looking storefronts while singing along to the words to their new single “While You’re Still Young” which was playing in the background. When the camera wasn’t rolling, the men had their faces powdered and then started all over again. Director Andy Erwin even broke on time for lunch.

But, things happen. Jewel’s video shoot for her new single “Satisfied” ran several hours behind because of a make-up mishap, and as Steel Magnolia found out on the day of their shoot, some things (like weather and children) just aren’t predictable.

Cold temperatures and rain forced the duo to revamp its schedule to take advantage of the few pockets of dry skies. The morning shots were bumped to the afternoon, but director Kristin Barlowe was still able to keep the shoot on track. The band didn’t care — Joshua Jones and Meghan Linsey were just excited to see it all come together.

“You know what, it’s been really fun, so I figure if it’s this fun as cold as it is, imagine how much fun it would be if the sun was out,” Linsey said. “We just have to be more successful so we can shoot on the beach next.”

Steel Magnolia has no one to blame (or credit) for this video shoot but each other. They developed the concept — including the wooded locale — because they wanted something different than a bar scene.

They thought the idea of child-like angels leading them through the forest to each other was fresh and romantic. However, when it came time to shoot scenes with their cherubs, it took multiple takes for the youngsters to hit their marks. When it was time for Steel Magnolia to join in shooting, Linsey’s four-inch heels sunk into the mud and grass and leaves clung to the tail of her whimsical gown.

After Barlowe got the shots she needed, the children and the artists darted back to crowd around the small space heaters as the production crew moved the equipment to another part of the forest to shoot a different scene.

“We just hope it translates when you see it,” Jones said. “We don’t want it to look cheesy. For the most part, it is kind of what we envisioned.”

Step 5: Post production

Jones should know if his video looks cheesy sooner rather than later. With shooting finished, the raw footage is shipped off for processing. When it comes back, the director views its and makes notes. The original treatment, the lyric sheet and notes are handed off to the editor who pieces the mini-movie together.

“They look at it and we talk about the weak links and we mark where we think things should go,” Flanigen said. “Then we leave them alone for about two days to let them formulate everything and let them start to put all of that raw footage together.”

Most of the time, Flanigen said, when a director sees the product an editor is creating, it’s on target. Occasionally, minor changes are made and it will take the editor another day to finalize a rough cut of the video. The rough cut is then handed over to the artist and his camp of people for approval.

“We’ve had it come back with everything from, ‘No changes, this is perfect’ to ‘We don’t know if we get that,’” Flanigen said. “You have no idea what their reaction will be, although if you’ve delivered what you put on paper there are no surprises. Some people can write a great treatment but they can’t deliver the product. We pride ourselves on being able to do that.”

Reach Cindy Watts at 615-664-2227 or ciwatts@tennessean.com.

TUNE IN

The 2010 CMT Music Awards air live on the cable network and www.cmt.com at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 9 from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Tickets to the show are sold out.